Shattered
by Ceris Malfoy
Summary: "Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember. Optronix/G1!Starscream RnR!
1. Part 1: Starting

**Title:** Shattered

**By:** Ceris Malfoy

**Summary:** "Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember.

**Inspiration:** Piole generously sent me a link to download Shattered Glass, and I practically devoured it. This is only one of the ideas that hit me while I was reading, but it is my favorite. This particular fic deals primarily with Optronix before the events of Shattered Glass, and how he became the Autobot Tyrant Optimus Prime. And guess what? It's all 'Screamer's fault. XD

**Continuity:** TF Crossover. G1 and Shattered Glass, with events and situations mentioned from both the 1986 movie and Bay-verse.

**Status:** Part 1 of 4

* * *

It had all started simply enough.

Optronix was a cold, logical mech that was more than capable of looking after himself, despite his young age. So, when his creators tragically died in a horrible accident off-planet, no one said anything when he simply took control of their assets and made the arrangements they never thought to make. Given the abrupt nature of the tragedy, no one even looked twice at him when he started taking long walks alone close to the wastes. It was on one of these walks that he had found the seeker.

The seeker was badly injured – half of his torso completely gone, as well as most of a wing – and it was the nature of the injury that caught Optronix's attention. He was an avid study of Cybertronian history, and the wounds the seeker bore looked very much like they had been made by some sort of weapon – which was impossible, because weapons had been banned for several millennia.

Curious, he had dragged the seeker back to his home, and arranged for a medic to repair it. It was only after the repairs were done and he was left waiting for the seeker to awaken that he noticed something strange.

The seeker wasn't built right.

Seekers, as he knew them, were large, blocky mechs with a disturbing amount of speed and agility considering their build. This seeker was much smaller than he had ever seen, and was lithe. This seeker actually _looked_ like he was fast and agile. Most seekers had only one or two colors, except for the few femmes among them, but _this_ seeker was unnaturally bright and colorful: moonlight-silver, sleek crimson, soft blue, and matte black. Seekers, as he knew them, had large pedes, meant to hold their considerable weight while on the ground. Unfortunately, the larger pedes meant they often walked with a strange, lumbering gait. This seeker's pedes were small, with delicately arched plating that attached to his thrusters – which also were different in that they were exposed with no plating to prevent them from being damaged while walking. The alloy used in his armor was different as well, some strange mixture that he had never seen before.

The seeker intrigued him. Where did it come from? Why had it been injured so? _How _had it been injured so Why was its design so different? So many questions, and he would have to wait for answers.

That was okay though, because Optronix knew how to be patient.

* * *

Optronix did not have to wait long for the seeker to wake.

The seeker woke suddenly, with no warning, and certainly no evidence of having suffered such grievous wounds. Far faster than Optronix had anticipated, the seeker was off the berth and he was against the wall, the seeker's clawed-servos digging painfully against his neck.

"Where am I?" The seeker's cold, strangely-pitched voice hissed out, and Optronix didn't answer because he was too entranced by the seeker's burning optics. He had never seen their like before – a sharp crimson that echoed with a piercing intelligence and resounding madness. The seeker shook him a little, and he could not help the pained gasp that left his vocalizer as those claws nicked an energon-line. "I'm waiting, groundling. Where am I?"

"I-Iacon," he managed to get out, watching fascinated as a look of panic, suspicion, disbelief, and rage crossed those elegant facial plates.

"That's not possible," the seeker hissed, gripping tighter. "Cybertron is _dead_, groundling, its cities ground to dust and ruins. _Where am I_?"

"Look out the window," he told the seeker.

The seeker eyed him, before releasing him abruptly and crossing the room. Optronix could not help but admire the view – those oddly-designed pedes had obviously been considered that way for a reason, as the seeker moved with a certain grace and skill that he had only seen in the ancient recordings.

The calm, stalking assurance of a predator.

"_Iacon_," the seeker whispered, staring out the window with awed wonder. There was silence for a moment, and then the seeker was staring at him again, hunger and a strange yearning on his facial plating. "Tell me everything," the seeker demanded, and Optronix obliged.

* * *

**So? Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Even if you think it's the biggest load of slag you've ever read - I'm intersted in knowing. **


	2. Part 2: Developing

**Title:** Shattered

**By:** Ceris Malfoy

**Summary:** "Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember.

**Inspiration:** Piole generously sent me a link to download Shattered Glass, and I practically devoured it. This is only one of the ideas that hit me while I was reading, but it is my favorite. This particular fic deals primarily with Optronix before the events of Shattered Glass, and how he became the Autobot Tyrant Optimus Prime. And guess what? It's all 'Screamer's fault. XD

**Continuity:** Crossover. 1986 G1 movie and AU! Pre-Shattered Glass.

**Status:** Part 2 of 4

* * *

It had developed quickly.

Optronix had at first thought the seeker a new proto-type for the frame, a sign of the inevitable change that history told him would eventually come about. Instead, he found that the seeker was not even from this universe, that his frame was actually considered _ancient_ in design by most of the younger seekers under his command. He had thought that this seeker was just like the others – designed for a war that stagnancy and peace had seen to would never develop, warrior's coding left to wither and die under the restrictive laws of their Senate. Instead, he got a seasoned warrior, second in command of a vast army, and commander of all of his faction's flyers. He learned that the seeker had earned his place through treachery, lies, and murder, but that did not bother him.

_Nothing _about this seeker bothered him.

He was beyond fascinated with this seeker, he was addicted, _obsessed_.

It was only a matter of time before he asked the seeker to teach him.

* * *

"Who is that?" Optronix asked the seeker, eyeing the mech that moved in the holo-image.

Starscream, as he had learned the seeker's designation to be, said nothing for a long moment, gaze strangely wistful. "He is Megatron," the seeker finally answered, and although his gaze was longing, his voice held nothing but absolute loathing.

Optronix tore his gaze from the powerful mech and stared at the seeker.

Starscream met his gaze, thin lips twitching in amusement. "He was the leader of the Decepticons, a former gladiator who started a war, that at the time of my …_relocation_, had yet to end."

Optronix hummed faintly and considered. "You were his second in command."

"No," Starscream said immediately, and then, quietly, "Yes."

He frowned. "Which one is it?"

Starscream's face went blank, a sign that he was vastly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. Forcing the seeker to speak was a gamble – some days he caved easily, others were …_painful_. Optronix was only slightly worried – as a mech that supposedly didn't exist and had no records whatsoever, Starscream was beholden to him for fuel, shelter, and a certain legitimacy. "Well?" he prodded.

The seeker's voice was cold, "I was _his_. His rival, his lover, his tactician, his punching bag… anything and everything he needed me to be, whenever he needed me to be it. I can not simply be called his 'second in command,' because I was never really that – Soundwave, his third, often did many of the duties that should have been mine."

Optronix put two and two together. The seeker had once told him that the injuries he had had when he had been found had been the result of 'pushing too far'. "You attempted to kill him and he tried to kill you and sent you here instead," he guessed.

Starscream laughed, but the sound contained no hint of joy. "Attempted? Oh yes, many, many times. My attempts _amused_ him, Optronix. Megatron…" the seeker paused, gaze returning to the holo-vid and considering the mech it displayed. "Megatron was unique. He was a warrior, a predator, but beyond all that, he was a living _God_. To him, there was none that could match him." A sly grin crossed his face. "He thought he had bent me to his will as easily as he bent the others; what he asked, I gave; what he demanded, I surrendered. But he _forgot_." Starscream turned his gaze back onto Optronix, staring intently. "He _forgot _that for all my willingness to serve him I _was_ his equal in more ways than he was comfortable with." Starscream's optics were burning. "I was _his_, but he forgot that he was _mine_. 'Attempted to kill him?' Many a time. I even succeeded, eventually."

Optronix frowned. "Then who tried to kill you? A loyalist?"

"None would have dared, not so soon after Megatron's unfortunate demise," Starscream said. He frowned as well. "No, it was a strange mech, one that sounded and slightly resembled Megatron who interrupted my crowning ceremony."

Optronix nodded, and went back to studying the holo-image. "So how is this going to teach me combat?"

Starscream smiled. "I can't teach you directly – my style is built for speed and agility. My frame is too small, my armor too light, and my wings too fragile to teach to a groundling mech obviously built for strength and power. However, I have watched Megatron and other groundlings with his build fight for several millennia, and have even been their opponent on more than one occasion." He gestured to the holo-image. "You will learn by watching my memories of their styles. You will copy, and you will practice, and when you feel ready, I will beat you into spare components until you have mastered the style well enough to bring me to my knees."

Optronix turned his steady gaze onto the seeker. "And then?" he asked quietly.

The smile grew wider, showing off sharp dentals that would have done a sharkticon proud. "And then we'll see, won't we?" the seeker purred.

* * *

**Umm, yeah. Methinks Starscream actually misses Megatron, as he's going through a lot of trouble to 'mold' Optronix into a similar being. Screamer will actually be behaving himself up until the last part - and I think I might throw in an epilogue as well to tie up some loose ends. Story is almost done being written, so unlike Ricochet, people are not going to be waiting forever and a day. ^^**


	3. Part 3: Taking Time

**Title: **Shattered

**By:** Ceris Malfoy

**Summary: **"Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember.

**Inspiration: **Piole generously sent me a link to download Shattered Glass, and I practically devoured it. This is only one of the ideas that hit me while I was reading, but it is my favorite. This particular fic deals primarily with Optronix before the events of Shattered Glass, and how he became the Autobot Tyrant Optimus Prime. And guess what? It's all 'Screamer's fault. XD

**Continuity: **TF Crossover. G1 and Shattered Glass, with events and situations from both the 1986 animated movie and Bay-verse.

**Status: **Part 3 of 4

* * *

It was taking quite a bit of time, far more than Optronix anticipated.

Through the black market, Optronix was able to secure an identity and a past for Starscream, who promptly enrolled at the Iacon Institute of the Sciences. Optronix was not surprised at this – though he was far from slow, he had long ago realized that he just couldn't keep up with the seeker once Starscream got started. It did the seeker some good to have fellow intellectuals to have arguments with – and make no mistake about it, those science-bots could get into some down-right _vicious_ verbal battles over the smallest of details. Optronix often caught Starscream coming home with smug little grins that usually meant that some other poor mech was probably going to the closest med-bay with several glitching logic-processors.

As for Optronix himself, whenever he wasn't studying the vid-files Starscream gave him of various ground-mechs, he was entrenched firmly in the archives. He began to become obsessed with the idea of war. He researched everything he could get his servos on; watched any vid-file the archives would let him touch; pestered the ancient mechs that ran the archives for their recounts of their lives before the Golden Age.

His universe was one of peace, but it was a stagnant peace, one without progress or change. He _loathed_ the state Cybertron was in, and he knew that, once the novelty of seeing an intact Cybertron had worn off, Starscream had a strong desire to burn Iacon down to the ground just for the sheer thrill of doing something _different_. If Cybertron remained in the same moribund state by the time he mastered close-quartered combat, he was certain that, between the two of them, they would _force_ Cybertron to change.

Goal in sight, he began to feel out the masses. He looked for those that hated this peace, those that were bored out of their processors, those that were naturally volatile and violent, and those who had been failed by the current system and _needed_ change. He met each and every one of them privately, affirming either their loyalty or their silence. He watched each and every one of them drift away nervously, even the most violent-natured of them throwing cautious, wary looks over their shoulder-plating at Starscream, whom said nothing and merely watched, a silent, ever-deadly presence at his back.

That these mechs, none of whom Optronix would call weak-embered, were so easily unnerved by Starscream's mere presence sparked the thought that something was fundamentally wrong with Starscream. Optronix had noticed strange little glitches here and there, odd little quirks that he had primarily dismissed as the difference between two completely different beings; a flyer vs. a groundling, an ember vs. a spark, a being naturally belonging to this world vs. a being thrust into it unprepared. But …. He had begun noticing that Starscream was growing less and less volatile as the vorns slid past. At first he had thought it was merely Starscream finally settling in and finding things to occupy himself with, but there were times lately when he would catch Starscream's gaze, and see _nothing_ staring back at him – a strange void deep and dark and very, very hungry.

Further causing him to worry was what Starscream was occupying his time _with_. Whenever the seeker wasn't teaching him or playing scientist, he as designing things that made Optronix's ember tremble in combined fear and awe. Armor upgrades, weapons capable of mass destruction, systems upgrades, firewalls that were viciously offensive and alarmingly adaptive, viruses capable of mutating processors and programming beyond recognition or repair…. Starscream's vast and varied knowledge of war seemed to have concluded that "he who has the best toys wins".

But that wasn't all Starscream was doing. The seeker seemed to have embraced the idea that Optronix needed a higher rank in society.

* * *

Optronix waited impatiently for Starscream to come home.

Although he generally considered himself a patient, logical mech, he nevertheless had the burning need to get out of his chair and track down his wayward seeker. Starscream was late, but it was not concern for the seeker that made Optronix so impatient. He didn't _need_ to worry for Starscream – he needed to be concerned for whichever poor soul the seeker decided to offline next.

It had started just a few orns ago when Optronix had been suddenly promoted from Junior Assistant Archivist to Archivist, bypassing nearly fifteen other mechs. It hadn't been until after he'd gotten over the surprise from the sudden advancement that he'd done any digging as to _why_ the others had been bypassed.

They were all _dead_.

Every last mech that had barred his way to becoming an Archivist, a position not without some prestige amongst the elite, was offline. _Permanently_. Reports said that they had all drank contaminated energon, (which, incidentally, had sparked one of the largest mass panic-attacks he'd ever seen), but Optronix found it highly suspicious that of the 239 employees at the Hall of Records, only _those_ mechs had been affected. And there was only one mech he could think of that lacked enough of his moral programming to offline mechs for such a cause.

_Starscream_.

And had it stopped there, Optronix could have lived with it; he was under no illusions, after all, and knew exactly what Starscream was capable of – certainly, Starscream himself never even once tried to hide who and what he was – and murder was just a means to an end as far as the seeker was concerned. There was no guilt, no remorse, no hesitation, and there never would be.

But it _hadn't_ stopped there. Just last cycle, he had again been promoted, this time to Head Archivist. The previous Head Archivist, an ancient mech by anyone's standards, had been found slumped over his desk, dead. The other Archivists, particularly those who had been in their positions for vorns, had simply disappeared. There was no trace of them to be found, and Optronix heavily suspected that there never would be, either. There was only one position left that was higher than his, and part of him _knew_ that sooner rather than later he would go to work one day to find that he had been promoted to Master of Records. He was already under heavy suspicion by both his peers and the enforcers, and he knew that if the current Master of Records – a rather pretty femme that was the sole creation of Senator Decimus, and thus rather high-profile – went missing or turned up offlined, he would be the first to be blamed.

"You look rather angry, Optronix." Starscream's curious voice broke through his thoughts.

He looked at the seeker, taking in the smug grin and the proudly arched wings. Starscream was in a rather good mood this cycle, which was alarming on so many levels. "What have you done?" he hissed.

Starscream merely smiled. "Nothing you'll need to worry about," the seeker said, even as he breezed by Optronix.

Optronix watched him go; furiously contemplating going after him and _forcing_ the truth out of the seeker, but rational thought soon prevailed. Starscream was still beating him down relentlessly in their sparing matches – the seeker would have no trouble turning the tables on him if he tried brute force. No, this called for finesse. And while he didn't have the subtlety for the job, he knew a mech or two who did.

"I'll find out what you're up to," he quietly warned the absent seeker. "And when I do…." A dangerous grin crossed his face.

* * *

**Ummm...Scary Optronix is scary? XD**

**SG!Starscream will make an appearance in the next portion, as will SG!Megatron (finally). I've pretty much finished all but one scene of the next part, so the wait shouldn't be too long. There will be a small epilogue that will magically tie in the Bay-verse movies (very, very loosely), and wrap up a single key plot-point that otherwise goes "huh?" I need to know whether or not you guys want the mini epilogue as it's own chapter, or as a small add-on to the last full chapter. Either way is fine, as it's really already written. XD**

**And BTW, I've given Unicron a new name in the epilogue, so don't panic when you see a title that you don't immediately recognize.  
**

**I've also got several short-stories planned and/or half written for this 'verse, primarily dealing with actual events and characters that happen in the SG comics, as opposed to this fic, which deals with the background. There's three stories so far, all one-shots. I'm thinking about posting them all under one title - "Mirror, Mirror and Other Tales." **

**As always, I'm really interested in what you think about this fic. Drop me a line and let me know?  
**


	4. Part 4: Burning

**Title:** Shattered

**By:** Ceris Malfoy

**Summary: **"Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember.

**Inspiration:** Piole generously sent me a link to download Shattered Glass, and I practically devoured it. This is only one of the ideas that hit me while I was reading, but it is my favorite. This particular fic deals primarily with Optronix before the events of Shattered Glass, and how he became the Autobot Tyrant Optimus Prime. And guess what? It's all 'Screamer's fault. XD

**Continuity: **TF Crossover. G1 and Shattered Glass, with events and situations from both the 1986 animated movie and Bay-verse.

**Status:** Part 4 of 4

* * *

It started.

Optronix or Optimus Prime, as he was now called, had finally declared himself ready. He still had difficulty defeating Starscream, but no other could touch him, so what was the point in waiting any longer? Starscream argued with him for long hours, progressively growing more and more incoherent as he went, until finally he disintegrated into wordless shrieking. Optimus had been horrified, but not really surprised. The seeker's sanity had long been held in question, after all.

Speaking of Starscream, he had finally found out what the tri-colored seeker was hiding. He had gone to Prowl – a cold tactician with little-to-no emotional programming – who had introduced him to Jazz. Jazz, Optimus had quickly learned, was truly dangerous – to himself and everyone around him. Just like Prowl was lacking on the emotional-programming, Jazz had no moral-programming to speak of, and a glitched logic-processor. A master at both espionage and assassination that just so happened to moonlight as hacker and bounty-hunter, Jazz wasn't too picky about his assignments.

After nearly a full vorn of careful stalking and watching, Jazz had reported that Starscream was hiding another seeker. Based on the fact that the two seekers bore almost exactly the same energy-signature and processor-speed, and did share the same designation, Jazz reported that he believed Starscream had split his ember – a belief Optimus had allowed Jazz to keep. Optimus knew the truth of the matter though – this new seeker was Starscream's _other_, the version of Starscream born naturally to this universe.

Optimus investigated the matter himself, curious about what Starscream's other was like, and had barely even met the mech before he had been hooked.

The shy, pacifist, seeker with his blue optics and familiar bulky frame, contained all the intellectual brilliance of Starscream, without the madness or the extreme methodology. Optimus wasted no time, barely needing time to realize the benefits of having that brilliance belonging solely to him. Decision made, he carefully began courting Starscream's other.

The seeker was receptive and eager, flattered by the attention of the older mech. Optimus barely even needed to work at it – the seeker practically gave himself up, seemingly as keen on the idea of a true merge as Optimus himself was. That the seeker was a pacifist and against fighting really didn't bother Optimus, because he had no intention of letting _his_ seeker fight. He wanted that brilliant mind and that raging ember under lock and key, held high above all others to be worshiped and protected. And it seemed like this other Starscream was receptive to the idea, right up until Optimus revealed his plans for Cybertron. The disgust with which the seeker refused his proposal infuriated Optimus, and in retaliation, he forced the seeker to watch what would come to be known as the official start of the war: the destruction of the seeker's home-city.

They watched Crystal City burn: the seeker crying and struggling in vain to escape Optimus' brutal grasp; Optimus idly wondering where Starscream was.

* * *

"_You_!" Optimus Prime snarled, enraged beyond all sense of reason at this betrayal. Part of him was angry at himself – he had _known_ that Starscream was as fickle with his loyalties as he was with his moods – but most of him was raging at the fact that Starscream had led Megatron and those slagging Decepticons _right into the heart of his base!_

"Me," Starscream agreed easily, amusement written all over him. He motioned Megatron towards the entrance to the prisoner cells, and the Decepticon leader wasted no time in freeing his comrades, even going so far as to claim Starscream's other.

Optimus snarled again, but made no move to stop them. All of his lieutenants and their teams were elsewhere fighting off the rest of the Decepticon rebels, and he was seriously outgunned. Besides, he had to keep the real threat in his sight – Starscream was dangerous, more dangerous then he had led the others to believe. After all, Starscream was a genius, a prodigy of war, and the seeker no longer had any sanity to temper his reactions, if indeed he had had any to begin with.

Several tense moments passed as prisoners were repaired enough to risk moving on their own. Through all of it, Starscream stood in the middle of the command center, utterly relaxed and smiling pleasantly. Megatron at last reappeared, clasping the red and white version of Starscream to him tightly, the jet-former whimpering in his arms as his severe wounds were jostled. Megatron motioned for the rescued Decepticons to leave, watching his mechs with concerned optics as they staggered out.

Optimus Prime sneered. Such weakness would have long been culled from his ranks – if his troops weren't tough or clever enough to get out on their own after making the cosmic mistake of getting captured, then there was no reason for _him_ to come get them.

Megatron at last started to follow his rescued mechs, pausing briefly beside Starscream. "Are you coming?" he asked warily.

Starscream's empty gaze never left Optimus. "No," he purred.

Megatron glanced at Optimus Prime, blue optics wide and afraid, and Optimus was stunned to realize that he wasn't the only one to recognize that Starscream was completely glitched. Megatron seemed to steel himself, then asked, "Are you sure?"

Starscream smiled, and the smile was a dark promise that had both faction leaders flinching back. "Quite sure," he said easily.

Megatron didn't hesitate. He clasped Starscream's other tighter to him, and left, never once looking back.

They had barely left when Starscream was suddenly behind him – Optimus had never even seen him move. He had known that the seeker was fast, but he had never been tested against that speed. Now he wished he had insisted the seeker fight him at full strength. He didn't risk moving, for Starscream had the barrel of one of his null-rays pressed firmly against his helm.

"Don't move," the seeker murmured.

And Optimus wouldn't. Despite the fact that the null-rays were a decidedly non-lethal weapon, at close-point range at full power, the damage they could do to a mech was considerable enough that even _he_ paused in the face of them. Considering the vulnerability of the area where Starscream had chosen to aim, there was not only the risk of physical and mental damage, but the very real possibility that he wouldn't survive the blast.

The second barrel pressed firmly against the base of his spine, and he had only a moment to wonder at why Starscream seemed to be considering the exact angle the barrel was aimed at before it fired.

There was blinding agony for several long moments, and then his systems started to go numb. Optimus saw, more than felt, his body collapse on the ground in a tangled heap at Starscream's pedes. He was helpless to do anything but lay there, his systems unresponsive. He was at the complete mercy of a psychotic seeker; one he had dismissed as a threat to his safety only to find he was the biggest threat of all.

Starscream straightened him out and flipped him over to lie on his back. Clawed-servos traced delicately over his frame, easily finding areas that would have normally stimulated him straight into overload, but now merely tickled unpleasantly. Though he was terrified, he was forced to do nothing but watch as Starscream eventually stopped his exploring, and settled down to business – opening the protective chamber that hid away his ember.

Behind the terror was the grim thankfulness that his systems were numbed, as he was sure that the pain of having his chassis practically ripped open would have sent him straight into stasis-lock. He wanted to know _exactly_ what Starscream did to him, because also lurking behind his terror was a rage unlike anything he'd ever felt before, a rage that promised him one thing: he would make Starscream _pay_ for this.

Starscream eventually opened his own chamber, and Optimus couldn't help but stare at the seeker's spark. He had seen it once before, a long, long time ago, and had been mesmerized by the soft golden sphere of light. But now, his stare was one of disgust and abject horror. That beautiful golden spark looked like it had been shredded: multiple fragments were barely hanging on to the whole, and some fragments were actually spinning around separately. But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was right in the center of Starscream's shredded spark: a black void that didn't pulse, didn't spin, or otherwise give off any sign that it belonged to a living mech.

Optimus didn't have time to contemplate on what this meant or even what could have caused such a drastic change in Starscream's spark, as the seeker promptly leaned down and merged spark and ember both.

Pain, phantom and just beyond his reach, rocked his senses and he was distantly aware that what he was feeling wasn't _his_ pain, but rather a dim echo of the pain that existed in Starscream's systems. Alongside the pain were also anger and fear and a terrible yearning; a desperate hunger unlike anything he'd ever known. And below that hunger was a great Abyss, an endless emptiness that echoed piercingly, and it was _looking at him_. There was no other way to describe it – though that void had no optics or anything that betrayed the slightest hint of life, it was nonetheless _watching_ him. He had the vague impression of movement, like that void was an entity all its own, preparing to pounce, and then….

Optimus screamed.

* * *

**I've decided to put the epilogue in it's own chapter. I told you this wouldn't be a long wait. XD I wiffled, obviously, on what to do about how to introduce SG!Starscream. And while I'm not totally happy with it, that's the version I'm sticking with. RnR?**


	5. Epilogue: Void

**Title:** Shattered

**By: **Ceris Malfoy

**Summary: **"Rumor has it that he discovered something so terrible that it destroyed his very sanity." It wasn't so much what he discovered, so much as a great and terrible abyss that forced its way into his very ember.

**Inspiration:** Piole generously sent me a link to download Shattered Glass, and I practically devoured it. This is only one of the ideas that hit me while I was reading, but it is my favorite. This particular fic deals primarily with Optronix before the events of Shattered Glass, and how he became the Autobot Tyrant Optimus Prime. And guess what? It's all 'Screamer's fault. XD

**Continuity:** TF Crossover. G1 and Shattered Glass, with events and situations from both the 1986 animated movie and Bay-verse.

**Status: **Epilogue

* * *

The madness comes slowly; poison born from his now-tainted ember and carried leisurely through his circuits and wires to infect and twist and hurt. Optimus Prime does not understand what has happened between him and Starscream – only knows that one moment the numbness is wearing off and he is ready to _hurt_ the seeker (and, oh, how he imagines making the seeker _scream_), and the next, the seeker is silent and still, dead or dying, he doesn't know. And his ember … he works up the nerve one day to look in a mirror, and though he is expecting it, nothing can prepare him for the sight of his ember fragmenting before his very optics.

Between battles, he researches and researches, searching frantically for anything and everything that will halt this progressive deterioration of both ember and thought-process. He is loosing himself; loosing control. His army whispers of madness: they are right to. He is becoming madness incarnate, he is becoming everything Starscream was and is going so far beyond that, because Starscream was nothing if not a study of contradictions, and despite the seeker's madness, he'd been an old hand at concealing it. Optronix was cold and logical and perfectly without desire or ambition; Optronix had been his own mech. Optimus Prime, however, is very much Starscream's creation – a cheap knockoff of a leader Starscream had respected and loved even as the seeker had loathed and desired to kill him – and as Starscream's creation, was brilliant but _blind_; strong but so damn _weak_; insane but not in any way that can be hidden or fixed or shared or talked-through.

There is a great void within his ember, deep and dark and violently silent; a great chasm within him that is growing stronger and darker and deeper still.

A void that is ever-hungry.

* * *

_The Void-maker stirred as yet another universe's key-stone became infected by his only creation's insanity. The Void-maker was pleased, and he decided, on a whim, to reward his creation. He fashioned a new body, slim and sleek and ever-deadly, then reached across the span of countless dimensions and pulled his only creation's spark to him. Carefully, ever so carefully, he nursed his creation's tattered spark back into some semblance of wholeness, then just as carefully allowed the semi-healed spark to migrate to its new home. _

_With a thought, his newly re-hatched creation disappeared. Where, he didn't know, but he knew his creation would do what it was designed to do, and bring chaos, ruin, and death._

_The Void-maker smiled.

* * *

_

Megatron, Lord High Protector and Supreme Commander of all of Cybertron's military, and only brother to the Lord Prime, stared at the seekerlet. He didn't understand how the far-too-tiny hatchling came to exist on a battlefield completely devoid of seekers, but he wasn't one to really care about the particulars of things, just the results. He considered the seekerlet for a long moment. Then, with a tired sigh, he picked it up.

He'd let his Air Commander deal with it. Windspinner needed something besides stalking him to occupy her time with.

Tiny crimson optics stared up at him from an utterly relaxed frame; content as it was with the heat from Megatron's spark. Megatron never noticed. Nor did he notice the tiny, fanged smirk that crossed the hatchling's face.

* * *

**Now that the story is officially finished, I thought I might bore you with a few thoughts about both this story in general and the epilogue in question.**

**A few months back, I wrote a small story called "Negotiations" and stuck it under my catch-all section called "It's a Screamer's World". The story was my first attempt at a Shattered Glass/G1 crossover between G1!Starscream and SG!Optimus Prime, and sadly, epically failed due to the simple fact that I had never read Shattered Glass. Piole generously offered to fix this oversight, a fact for which I've been grateful for from the bottom of my TF!Fangirl heart. *huggles*I immediately sought to do another one, done correctly this time.**

**I may, or may not have, failed on this point. Please keep in mind that this is all Pre-Shattered Glass, the prequel events, if you will, of the comic itself. The portion in quotes in the summary is a direct quote from the comic/graphic novel and is part of Optimus Prime's background story as told by the Decepticons. Naturally, my mind went, "but what if they were wrong?" And then my mental Screamer totally went, "I'd tap that", and this fic was born. Lolz.  
**

**I'm sure that more than a few people out there went WTF? with where I took this, and I'm not surprised. See, before I even started contemplating TF fanfiction on my own, and shortly after I started stalking various writers here on (they know who they are), I started wondering why _Starscream_, of all the mechs in the various TF universes, was the only one who was truly immortal - so immortal his spark can float around without a body through time and space and various alternate realities. My theory? He's the spawn of the Unmaker, literally. XD (And thank god, TF has a similar world-view as Eva does - it's all canon, _everything's_ canon, even your most sickest fandoms. Makes me a _very_ happy little Fangirl.) But, of course, such a thing would have to have consequences, yes? Because a spark/ember is supposedly a part of Primus (I think. I may have gotten that bit wrong. If so, feel free to correct me!) and all mechs are considered Primus' children. I would think that having a spark/ember infected/infested with whatever it is that keeps Unicron alive (which, in this story, is the Void/Abyss/Chasm - a sort of sentient black-hole), would have some rather extreme consequences. And then I realized I needed a reason on why Unicron would _want _to have spawn, especially spawn as annoyingly hard to kill as Starscream regularly turns out to be. (Does this mean that my Starscream is a demi-god? If you ask _him_, he's _the _God, so I wouldn't go there. You'll just get lectured at.)  
**

**Answer? To corrupt the very souls of those around him; to cause mischief and insanity and death and chaos; to help destroy and unmake the world(s) Primus has created. I'm in the process of writing the "creation" tale around that very theory. It'll be called "Origins".**

**Also, I'm sorry almost all of the other SG characters didn't really get a turn to shine. I'll eventually be posting various other little one-shots focusing on them, but probably not until after Christmas. This fic was primarily meant to focus on Optimus and Starscream, and I didn't want to mess something up by adding even more characters in it. **

**On "key-stones": I'm not sure where I first came across this concept - I think it might have been either a Sailor Moon or a Harry Potter fanfic - but a key-stone is a person/place, or thing which exists no matter how many dimensions there are, and are completely, 100 percent, unabashedly impossible to do without. For example, there will always be a Megatron and an Optimus Prime to oppose him (or inverse). We are of course, talking about fate and destiny and the cosmic equivalent of "Guess what? You're drafted! Get your ass in the car, bitch" all rolled into one. Starscream was "created" to infect these key-stones with his madness, or to remove them. Either works fine for Unicron. **

**And as for poor Megs in Bay-verse, yes, he IS being stalked by his femme!Seeker Air Commander. He will continue to be stalked by her for the rest of her life, right up until Starscream tires of her "interference" and kills her himself. **

**Any other questions? Don't hesitate to ask. I'll answer, I promise.  
**


End file.
